YORBA LINDA - Friends and family of President Richard Nixon were joined by the public Sunday at the 37th president's library and museum to kick off a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Nixon was born Jan. 9, 1913, and died in 1994 at age 81.

Richard Nixon's eldest daughter Tricia Nixon Cox, her husband, Edward Cox, their son, Christopher Cox, and his wife and in-laws, as well as former staffers and longtime friend and Whittier College football teammate, 99-year-old Hubert Perry joined the celebration Sunday. They fondly remembered the legacy of the late President.

"The lessons he learned (in Yorba Linda and Whittier), he carried them throughout his entire life," Nixon Cox said.

After the hour-long program, which included music from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band and a flyover from the Marine Aircraft Group-13 Harrier Squadron, Nixon Cox laid flowers at the graves of her parents.

"I said a little prayer," she said of the quiet moment covered by local and foreign press.

Nixon Cox and her party also toured the grounds of the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, including President Nixon's Marine One helicopter and his childhood home. The library is also the final resting place of Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat Nixon.

Nixon Cox and her family were joined by Rep. Ed Royce and Admiral Dixon Smith in the laying of the wreath sent by President Obama.

Navy Chaplain Robert Crosson delivered the invocation.

"We gather as we should; he changed the world," he said. "He was a leader whose stature rises with each passing year."

Royce said he first met President Nixon when the former chaired the College Republicans at Cal State Fullerton. Royce spoke about the president's speeches before the two houses of Congress in 1993.

He had just been elected to serve in the seat once held by Nixon.

"I remember him telling me about his fondness for Yorba Linda, and how his wife, Pat, had taught in Whittier," he said.

"Without notes, former President Nixon identified all of the great challenges the United States would face in the decades ahead," he said. "The problems he identified then, are the ones we are still grappling with today."

Nixon's conclusion, Royce said, "Foreign policy and domestic policy are like Siamese twins, one cannot survive without the other."

Marine Gen. Melvin Spiece spoke about Nixon's career in the Navy during World War II, and as Commander in Chief during the height of the Vietnam War.

He pointed out because of Quaker religion, Nixon could have avoided service, but instead, like so many others, he joined up and fought in the South Pacific.

Spiece also talked about how Vietnam has been referred to as "Mr. Nixon's War."

"What is overlooked in those references, is that President Nixon inherited a very well-established war from his three immediate predecessors," he explained.

Significant milestone foreign policy milestones occurred during the Nixon administration, including the return of nearly 600 Vietnam Prisoners of War, Moscow summit, and the opening of the People's Republic of China.

"He was a president whose impact on the world strategic landscape and our own armed forces is historical in context," he said.

Bruce Herschensohn, friend and former aide, called Nixon a president like no other.

"He had a passion and talent that has never been equaled," he said. "Washington had tremendous respect for it."

Herschensohn spoke of a conversation between Nixon and President John Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs debacle.

At the conclusion of Nixon's talk of foreign affairs, Kennedy said, "Foreign affairs, that's the stuff of presidents."

Herschensohn relayed a more personal story from a visit to see Nixon, post-presidency, in New York.

Word got out that the former president was having lunch at 21, and the police had to be called for crowd control.

President Nixon was answering questions from the crowd, and Herschensohn, like any good aide, wanted to give his former boss an out.

"I told him, `Mr. President, you're going to be late for a meeting,'

"He looked at me, and with a small smile, he said, `Cancel it."'

Caught in a lie, Herschensohn pretended to make a call to cancel the meeting.